


Royals

by rukaXtora



Category: Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Romance, Spoilers, will add/edit tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-17 04:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5854411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rukaXtora/pseuds/rukaXtora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Class Zero must breathe and die for the Dominion, even if it means putting aside their own feelings. However, King himself said that they only had so much time left, so why not make the best of it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Venimus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~Exordium novum~ Welcome to school, kiddos!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my fist multi-chapter fic in a long time! Playing Type-0 HD (finally, after attempting to play Agito and and getting annoyed with large filesize and watching the little sister play the JP game on PSP) got me in a writing mood YAY~

_"We have arrived."_

The words that had cemented everything: their commitment to Rubrum and their permanent place on the front lines. The crimson of their mantles danced among the flames that encircled them, flying under the waving standard of the Vermillion Bird. Their weapons glimmered against the firelight, their eyes burned with the fury of the Crystal. They waited _years_ for this moment, to show the world what Mother's children can do.

They would give their lives for her. If realizing her ideals meant that they must sacrifice their own, then so be it. Love for each other was always overshadowed by the love they had for Mother. There just wasn't any other sort of love to give to anyone else.

King never saw it that way, but to hell with his feelings. He fought for Mother. He fought for _her_. Nothing else mattered. Brandishing his gleaming pair of twin pistols, he revelled in the fear eminating from the enemy troops before them, laughing as he watched a soldier piss himself out of sheer terror upon gazing into Odin's deathly grin as he vanished into the flames. Yes, they had full command over the sinister Eidolon Odin, and the enemy couldn't do a _thing_. Twelve children, bathed in the fires of war, had come to take their lives and spare no quarter. "Bring 'em on," he smirked as the entirety of Class Zero leapt from their platform of crumbling rubble and charged at the soldiers of the White Tiger, the latter scrambling away from the raining magic and bullets they thought would never come.

What remained of the mighty Milites troops that day were slaughtered mercilessly by a flurry of crimson devils.

\---

Barely even a day went by since the success that was the Akademeia Liberation, and already their hands were full with word of a new assignment. Class Zero was still taking in their new surroundings at Akademeia in the meanwhile, never having actually spent time in a classroom or any sort of school environment until their induction as the new (and elite) cadet class. They wandered the halls with wide eyes and slacked jaws, with Queen commenting every now and then that they all look like idiots lost in a mystical fantasy wonderland (although King chuckled when he caught Queen slowly straying towards the Crystarium a couple of times before scurrying back to their group). They marveled at their new home, even King was excited about finally getting his own room all to himself. _Yes, no sharing or bunking with roomies!_ Nine grinned as they left the dorms, "So it totally pays to be a cadet, yo! Totally diggin' the pad!" 

Because of their newfound position as the top cadet class at Akademeia, they were fully aware of the blaring targets on their backs. King felt the burning scorn directed his way, some of his new schoolmates even having the gall to confront him and complain. "It's not fair! Why did you become cadets so damn quickly? We worked our fuckin' _asses_ off for years just to try to become cadets, and you guys get in no problem!" King shrugged in response, he had no answers to give. Not that he cared. 

Class Zero settled into their seats in their newly assigned classroom, finding scattered spots all around the room suited to their tastes. King had chosen the seat in the last row in the furthest left corner, just so he could face the window. He honestly didn't care much for lectures, as he himself studied whenever he had a spare moment. It was a habit that stuck with him while growing up when Queen (and unfortunately, Trey) would remind everyone that reading was important, and that excelling grades were just another way to head to the top. Most everyone in their class groaned, but King merely shrugged and went about his business. King didn't mind though, he rather enjoyed studying by himself. His grades were rather good, and he managed to secretly match both Trey and Queen in reading a full set of encyclopedias on Rubrum and both its fictional and non-fictional backgrounds, but he wouldn't ever tell (as he had an image to uphold, being a scary hoodlum with Nine and shit). In all honesty, the real reason he studied hard was _just_ so he could get close to...

They were all soon introduced to their new commanding officer, Kurasame Susaya who, much to King's amusement, threw Nine effortlessly into a wall when the latter charged at him like a raging Behemoth. Cater and Ace, while not tossed around like floppy ragdolls, fared no better against their new instructor as he disarmed them both just as fast as he had sent poor Nine flying. As a result, both Trey and Queen straightened their postures and stared at the chalkboard in full attenion, Sice actually sat up from settling into her nap, and as for everyone else, well, they instantly shut up and glued themselves to their chairs while slowly dropping their weapons under their desks. King laughed silently to himself. This was going to be a fun class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's chapter one! It's lengthy and I'm sure you all know the background of the game by now BUUUUUUT I tried adding some King perks in there (aka SECRET NERD ALERT). Tags and other stuff will change/be added as time goes on. Starting the actual fic was tough, as all the juicy bits I have planned are more towards the middle, but hey, foundations. Comments and kudos appreciated!


	2. School Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adjusting sucks, especilly if you're stuck with other people's shit.

Their first mission happened to be nearby, good.

The liberation of the township of McTighe (to which Nine would snort stupidly every time someone said the name) was a simple one: get rid of the Milites troops holding the citizens hostage and help the mayor restore order in the tiny town. Easy enough. Class was dismissed until the start of their mission, which gave them roughly twelve hours to wander around their new home.

Two students joined their class as well, the fresh meat being former cadets from other classes at Akademeia. The first, a girl named Rem Tokimiya, was a small little thing, as sweet as Deuce but possibly as ferocious as Sice in battle. King could easily see her getting along well with Cinque and Cater, given their personalities to welcome others with open arms (to some extent, they _are_ Class Zero, after all) as long as they held their own in the field. The final addition to their class, Machina Kunagiri, held his head high and proud, like a mighty and powerful coeurl looking out over his domain. His broad shoulders were draped in the same crimson mantle they all wore, yet, his showcased that of a hero with his majestic billowing cape fluttering in the wind. Machina...King had to agree with Jack on this one, as did Nine, but the kid looked like he was about to sneeze. _All. The. Time._ The frown Machina bore and the way he just held his head so damn _high_...maybe he was cursed to never actually sneeze, just perpetually have the feeling that it would happen, but it would never come. Poor bastard.

As soon as Kurasame gave the word that meant their freedom, Queen bolted out of the classroom, most likely making her way to the Crystarium to read. She had mentioned that she found a long list of titles she'd wanted to read from the library's database and wanted to get started straight away. King laughed and remarked that he'd probably join her, resulting in an excited squeal that only she would let out at the chance to read _anything_ thick enough to bash a skull with. 

The rest of the class went their separate ways, some finding time to visit the cemetery behind their classroom while others explored the different student areas of the campus. King decided to spend his time using the large teleporter in the lobby of the school to visit each relevant portion of Akademeia. Once he'd arrive at a chosen destination, he'd take a quick mental note, and zip away to the next area. He had no real reason to linger, no real drive to talk to anyone and make friends, he didn't need any of it. The less he connected to his schoolmates, the better it was for him to move on. He wouldn't remember them when they died, anyway. Besides, he had Class Zero as family, and of course, Mother. That was all he needed as far as companionship was concerned.

King's final stop was the Ready Room. He still had some hours to spare before preparing for their first mission, so he opted to get a few snacks before he headed elsewhere. While placing his order for two coffees and a few croissant sandwiches, he overheard some Class Seventh girls giggling from a table behind him. 

"That's the guy from Class Zero, right? The class Rem transferred into?"  
"He's cute."  
"Cute? He's fuckin' _hot_."  
"His name's King, right?"  
"He can be king of _my_ castle, anyday!"

King sighed and shook his head. Oh, the curse of having a wild hairstyle he meticulously cared for. It wasn't the first time throughout the week that he was getting positive attention for his looks (as opposed to the jealous glares from those "awww why are you cadets boohoo" shits he encountered more often), and in all honesty, he hated it. He didn't hate it enough to change his appearance, oh no, because he just looked _that damn good_. If anything, it was merely a nuisance brought on by an excitement of victory and the mystery that was Class Zero. At the end of the day, he didn't want to talk random infatuated girls. Hell, he wouldn't even know what to say.

Still, he had to keep up appearances, and his happened to be "untouchable thug." Once his order was finished and bagged, King turned his head over his shoulder and glared ruby daggers at the girls, smirking briefly as his piercing stare ceased their tittering chatter. They froze in their seats, quickly glancing down at long-forgotten plates of cake and bread, one girl muttering "I'm sorry," over and over in a squeaky pitch. He chuckled as he made his way to the teleporter, patting himself on the back for not having to say anything and still achieving his goal. His small victory was short-lived, however. He rolled his eyes as the glowing red light transported him away to the main lobby when he heard one girl say out loud to her friends (probably thinking he was no longer in earshot), "I'd still fuck him."

King snorted. Girls here were just as vulgar as Nine, which he found _hilarious._ Imagining the girls, King instantly felt bad for Eight, whose stature and appearance would stand no chance to the girls' standards. Tiny and cute were not something attractive in a man at a military academy, and poor Eight got the short end of the stick in nearly every aspect, pun intended and completely appropriate. Still, he had more important matters to attend to. 

He briskly made his was to the Crystarium with his carrier of hot coffee and bag of sandwiches and began his search. Finding Queen was easy however, as she happened to be mouthing titles at a bookshelf just by the doors he'd just come through. King sidled up to her and nudged her shoulder, to which she replied with a small yelp and, upon seeing him, a smile. "Oh King, I'm so happy you're here! I found an array of volumes about Eorzea, and I was just grabbing a few more--"

"I've got food, we've got time." King raised the bag of sandwiches and wiggled his eyebrows. Queen lit up instantly. She beamed as she grabbed several more books from the shelf she was previously inspecting, all the while humming softly to herself.

"Good! Let's get to studying, shall we?" Queen's eyes sparkled. He couldn't say no to that. He was, however, distressed at the sight of how thick the books spilling out of her arms actually were.

"Yay..."

\---

As the _clink_ of his final bullet case resonated, King slowly lowered his pistols. The lingering smell of gunsmoke filled his nostrils, a scent all too familiar and one that never failed to remind him of one simple thing: he was alive, and therefore he was triumphant. The battle was won, for today, and the entirety of Class Zero was whisked away back to Akademeia just as fast as they were shipped out. They did find a few moments to help the mayor rally his fear-stricken citizens before heading back to the school, as tiresome as it was. Even so, a good deed was a good deed.

Upon their return to Akademeia, Class Zero groaned. Yet again, no real moment of reprieve. They were given a new assignment to be carried out in two days, and they still had classes to attend. Lectures were long, breaks were few and far in between, and sometimes lunch was out of the question, much to Sice and Cinque's dismay. There was just too much to do in so little time, and King just wanted to sleep. Kurasame would understand, right? 

Nope. Asshole.

They were to attend several lectures per day, as well as complete several odd jobs tasked to them random students and faculty alike. Why they had to agree to any person on campus asking for their assistance King would never know, but he found that the more duties he had to complete per day, the more irritated he grew. At first, he laughed at some of the ridiculous duties they were asked to complete, such as using awkward x-ray magic to see through an instructor's clothes, but eventually they were asked to run to a cave to kill high class monsters for a girl much too lazy to do the deed herself, and he drew the line. King stormed out of the room with Nine in tow, but not before Rem took on the job herself, with Machina following her closely by. Why the hell did people think it was okay to dump their garbage into their hands?

King usually would keep a cool head in any situation, but after a long day of running errands for other classes (fucking _lazy_ assholes, I tell you), he finally snapped, in the form of a low growl, at a poor boy from Class Sixth for daring to ask if he could deliver a note and a small chocolate egg to his love interest in Class Ninth. "Go ahead, ask me again if I'll walk _ten feet away_ and give her this stupid egg. I goddamn _dare you_ ," he hissed at the trembling boy. He half expected the kid to piss his pants, but instead, to his surprise, the boy took the chocolate egg and note out of King's hands and (albeit very wobbly) walked over to the girl in question and handed her the gifts. The girl shrieked, nodded excitedly, and jumped into the boy's arms.

King's irritation intensified at the fact that other students could have a love life, and he just...couldn't. He didn't mean to snap at the guy, but hell, he _wished_ that he had the time to buy a chocolate egg and write mushy notes (again, not that he'd ever admit it). He was raised in war, he currently was stuck fighting a war, and he knew that eventually he would die in war. Life fucking _sucked_. But, there was naught else he could do, at least for now. What mattered was that he got to fight alongside the girl he loved, and it was more than he could ask for. Thank the Crystal, right?

Rage slowly subsided, King turned on his heels and made his way back to his classroom. There was yet to be another lecture in a few minutes, and he'd be damned if he had to take on another time-wasting job. As he saw the doors to the hallway come into view, his eyes caught a young girl with a bright blue mantle at a small table nearby. She locked gazes with him and, after a few moments, slowly stood up from her seat with a small box and envelope in hand. King's eyes widened as he internally screamed _Oh, hell no!_ Before the girl could get within ten feet of his person, King bolted for the doors and slammed them shut behind him, not stopping until he ran into the classroom. Queen raised a brow but ultimately said nothing. Nine, taking advantage of the opportunity, stuck his arm out and managed to clothesline the speeding King while still balanced atop his chair. King wheezed "asshole" to Nine, who guffawed and mockingly imitated his face upon being hit just moments before. Despite the idiocy that was Nine and his childish antics, at least _outside_ the classroom he was a badass... 

The next day, the girl found him again and, as much as he wanted to reject her request, he accepted and delivered a single handmade sugar cookie to her friend as a means to cheer her up after said friend broke up with her boyfriend. Ironically, said friend was recently diagnosed as diabetic. As to not hurt the client's feelings, the girl gave the cookie to King for going through the trouble. He stared at the cookie as the girl walked back into her classroom, then suspiciously took a small bite. "Yep," he said after sampling a taste, "She would've died. This thing would even make Cinque need insulin." He shrugged and popped the rest of the cookie into his mouth. He couldn't say no to free food.

Mission day was upon them, and he only had a few hours to prepare. Class Zero was told that the upcoming mission was to be a major one, as they would be assisting Rubrum forces on the field before capturing key towns currently under Milites command and infiltrating military bases. King found himself prepping in the arena, shooting at targets, dodge-rolling away from holographic gunmen, and regaining focus after days of useless errands and lengthy lectures on subjects he was well-versed in. His aim had to be precise, his mind on his team's well being and fluidity of their assault. That was the only way they could survive, and just _maybe_ he'll pick up a chocolate egg if they lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for lack of a better chapter title xD I really wanted to make it lengthy and to be honest, I couldn't remember a LOT of the tasks in each chapter, so I had to make one up for the sake of (destroying) King's sanity. Because really, chocolate eggs! That and I really wanted to eat chocolate while writing this chapter. It took a while to write and post, I'm so sorry! The new bird mounts in XIV were put into patch 3.2 (I'm an avid XIV player, and I'm also nearly finished with my XIV oneshot so keep an eye out for it!) so I put this and some sewing work on hold to....bird farm. 
> 
> As for mentioning Eorzea in the fic (if you caught it), I have this headcanon that Eorzea and the events of FFXIV are like a fairytale sort of this in the Type-0 universe. King's already read a bit about it, so he's got some understanding of the stories within Eorzea and happens to see a bit of the Garlean Empire within the Milites empire. Yeeeep~
> 
> ALSO *shameless plug-in* I run several FF RP blogs, but my newest is King (yep...), so if you would like to interact with *coughmecough* King, please check it out! 
> 
> http://regalpistols.tumblr.com/


	3. Bellum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War is never an easy thing. Excitement dies down quickly, sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TRIGGER WARNING* I suppose? Just put it as a precaution. Some slight descriptions of gore and such. I know they could've been more detailed....but I usually write these before I go to bed so sometimes vocabulary escapes me.

"Class Zero, you've received marching orders. Imperial vermin have infested the area surrounding Akademeia. Exterminate them."

The upcoming mission was one to be much more exciting than the liberation of McTighe. The Dominion forces were to stage a siege campaign upon Corsi, meanwhile invading and regaining command over the town of Aqvi and several surrounding military encampments. The might of the Rubrum army would be split into separate factions and face the Imperial troops in head-to-head combat. For once since the beginning of the war, Akademeia was taking part in an offensive battle, rather than going on the defense and pushing back the enemy. Needless to say, Class Zero was ecstatic. 

It was a tad daunting to know the details of their missions mere minutes before being sent out on the field, but this was Class Zero. They couldn't feel intimidated by impromptu details. After all, weren't many things uncertain in war? They prided themselves with their skill at adapting to any given situation and improvising battle tactics (Queen and Trey moreso), so much that as long as he got to beat the living snot out of unfortunate enemy soldiers, Nine trusted any plan the team agreed on. Of course, as long as King memorized all the details for him, _just in case._ Still, Queen pored over maps and thumbed through neatly stapled files as the cadets rushed out to meet the enemy outside of McTighe. How she managed to memorize every detail of the Dominion's strategies for the outlying battle, on top of directing the team formations for each stage of the siege _before_ reaching the end of the bridge that connected Akademeia to the mainland King couldn't comprehend. She was just that skilled at retaining information at a rapid rate, he supposed. 

Class Zero was to be the vanguard in the battle, paving the way for the Rubrum forces before each unit was gunned down by the more skilled Militesi soldiers. Queen had the entirety of Class Zero split into four groups, each team assigned to help push the assault on the smaller military bases, as well as break down stronghold defenses enough for the invading team (hers) to handle the bigger threats while the other classes and soldiers collected themselves and hold back any approaching enemy reinforcements. She even assigned a smaller group the job of destroying any hidden Militesi weaponry in the forest surrounding the military encampments. If they impeded the march, they had to go. "That's our class president for ya! Always got a plan!" Jack exclaimed as he ran off with his unit toward the nearby forest before Queen could retaliate at his use of the nickname she'd been "graced with." Cater and Eight ran ahead of him, whooping excitedly. Cater shouted as she raised her gun in the air, "Let's go, Derp Squad!" Both Jack and Eight cheered as they and their very confused team of Dominion soldiers disappeared amongst the trees. 

Queen had assigned King and Trey to her main assault team. She relied on Trey's wide range of aerial attacks and use of his Firewall to confuse the enemy in the flames long enough to herd them together into a crushable position. King's job was to mow down any unfortunate approaching soldiers who happened to get out of range of Trey's wave with a barrage of lead and help with crowd control while Queen was close range with her melee style of combat. True to the skills that earned them the moniker "devils," they trusted each other enough that they wouldn't flinch when lightning flashed by or a bullet's heat warmed the skin but never grazed it. There was no dodging a piercing rain of arrows, no retreating from the blazing wall of flame. Their team embraced it, and it terrified the enemy. In other words, they were highly disciplined on the battlefield, and _they never missed._ Despite Trey's annoyingly constant lecturing about (somehow) relatable information to the given history of Corsi, and Queen's debating on conflicting facts, King was more than pleased with their team. They were very well balanced and they worked as a solid unit. Hell, everyone did, but after a while, Class Zero just became accustomed to the fluidity of their own separate setups and Queen, ever observant, kept their chosen teams as so. King couldn't complain, his " _Regalia Triad_ ," as Queen and Trey agreed on (after days of arguing and a shattered teacup amongst smashed madeleines during one of Queen's tea parties, to which King inwardly sobbed because said destroyed tea and treats were his), was his ideal matchup. Diverse, highly balanced, and _she_ was there.

"Mount your chocobos, let's go!" 

King and Trey did as Queen commanded. Atop their birds, they led the main forces stationed at McTighe toward the first Dominion base to the north, simply marked as "Domain 1". Each of the remaining Class Zero units charged forward with their respected dispatch of soldiers to their positions on the field. Nine's team would aid _Regalia_ in retaking Domain 1 then lead the attack on Aqvi once the encampment was theirs. 

"Let's go, Team Fuq It—"

"Nine! Don't say our name out loud! _Idiot_!" Seven shouted. King stifled a small laugh when he heard the name. Leave it to Nine and Sice to give no fucks about naming their unit, hence the current title. Poor Seven.

Riding hard, King had to make sure he was well ahead of the first wave of Rubrum's Blaze Unit and, with Nine's team, began picking off oncoming enemy soldiers. Nine's unit, unlike his own, were not mounted cavalry. Just as well, seeing as Nine easily closed gaps with his Jump and Sice maneuvered the enemy into place by manipulating her Death Maelstrom to pit them into the former's landing zone. Wave after wave of Militesi troops poured out from the small stronghold, and stragglers from Nine's onslaught were met with Queen's blade. She shifted from evasive sidesteps to offensive lunges as she thrust her sword into one body after the next. Those who thought they were safe from the singing steel were _sorely_ mistaken as Trey's Firewall halted them in place and blocked their escape, only to be torn asunder by bullets and arrows. 

The carnage was terrifying to the soldiers who were lucky enough not to cross Class Zero, but the most bone-chilling part to both Militesi and Rubrum forces was the fact that this group of crimson-clad teenagers were unscathed by it and merely moved on to the next wave of unfortunates, leaving bloodied and dismembered corpses nearly beyond recognition without a care. In some cases, there just wasn't a body at all. Being turned into a human popsicle before being shattered into thousands of glittering, melting little fragments was a terrible way to die—even the Knowing Tag was destroyed. _Welcome to war, cadets,_ King thought bitterly when he spotted some of his schoolmates wide-eyed with terror and spewing their lunches onto the body-littered field. Mother had told them never to pity the dead while in combat, and that in war, any sort of guilt or disgust you felt toward your opponent (alive or dead) would be a hindrance when killing the next. And if you got distracted—or stupidly, hesitated—you were dead. Simple as that. _Poor bastards, guess they ain't ready after all._ Despite the haunting scenery that lay before them, the Dominion took it as one step closer to victory and rallied on.

Soon, Domain 1 fell back into Dominion hands, and came time to invade Aqvi. It was a quick charge into the city, seeing as their only job was to kill the commander holding Aqvi and prevent his escape. It was hilariously simple, even Jack found the time to laugh and how easily they'd fallen. As hastily as they'd taken Aqvi, they'd retaken Domain 2 and had broken through the defenses at Corsi all the while defending McTighe from waves of Imperial Warriors: bulky Magitek Armor that threatened the small town with sheer size and heavy artillery. King readied his pistols for the liberation of Corsi. Once they took Corsi back, this battle was won.

Just as they did with Aqvi, Class Zero's objective was to take down the commanding officer holding Corsi (One such Lieutenant Hamilton) and the town was theirs. What they didn't expect was to see a flying MA zipping around above their heads onced they reached the town square. King's rounds were, luckily, the explosive kind, so he felt no pressure on the damage his shots would deal against an armored asshole in the sky. He aimed his pistols high without second thought and fired away. Trey added to King's barrage with fiery arrows, all shot rapidly in order to create a torrent of destruction. Queen, while stuck on the ground as a melee fighter, was amazing at using magic, especially the ranged kind. She kept up with the boys by expelling crackling lightning from her palms in split seconds, shocking the damaged MA and shutting down its system with powerful electrical bursts. Within a matter of ten minutes or so, the MA crashed into the square and exploded into flaming fragments of steel and bloodied flesh and bone. Corsi had been liberated in one fell swoop.

Queen sheathed her broadsword, readjusted her glasses, and inspected the damage. "I consider this a job well done," she said. "King, Trey, we'll submit our reports on Corsi itself, seeing as we were the only team here. And Trey," she turned to the blonde and raised an eyebrow. "As much as you like being _thorough_ on your details of our mission assignments, please _do not_ include extensively vivid depictions of gore. I don't think they'd appreciate knowing that Hamilton's left arm, sans pinky, was blown five-hundred meters away from the site of death and splattered against a wall."

"But it's my duty to—"

"No means no, Trey. That's final." Queen took one more look at the melting mass of the MA and shot a few Blizzaga BOMs toward the cockpit. King knew what she had meant to do, which in turn meant that he had to get a little dirty. The ice she had conjured quelled the fires surrounding the actual cockpit, and this cooled the frame enough for King to reach in and grab the pilot's Knowing Tag. King particulary hated this task, but he let it go. Who else would do it for him if he died? He knew for sure that no one would come to reclaim the body, he was no longer known to the people. Class Zero took the task upon themselves to collect Knowing Tags, friend or foe, and deliver them to one of the Moogle instructors at Akademeia. Some sort of "remembrance for the dead" thing, he supposed.

Once he was sure that the cockpit was cool to the touch, King rolled up his sleeves, stepped over what was once the cockpit door, and reached in. What was left of Hamilton was a charred, bubbling mass of flesh with his mouth gaping open in death, haloed by splashes of blood and meat on the walls. He flinched at the sight, some parts of his body still red and peeling where his officer's uniform once shielded him. King merely shook his head and reached over Hamilton's body, slipping the Knowing Tags (which were still piping hot, but King just wanted out and ignored the searing pain) over his head and quickly stepped back. He briskly walked back to Trey and Queen, who had been waiting for him at the square's entrance, and held the blood-coated tags up into their sights. "Got the tags, let's get the fuck outta here. Dun wanna look at that hunk o' mess again." 

He was instantly reminded of his schoolmates earlier who had thrown up upon seeing the gore of the battlefield. Sometimes, he felt that way too, but he couldn't show it. Not as a member of Class Zero, and especially not in front of her. 

War fucking sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took a while to come out! Sewing super detailed cosplays for two people is tough, especially with a deadline...
> 
> The whole teams thing was made up by myself and my bestie when we started talking about which teams were suited to our combat styles best, and it all began with her "Derp Squad." Actually, "Regalia Triad" is my personal team which I main xD And fun tidbit: I was originally going to include an excerpt of King suggesting "Team NORA" as his team's name, but I felt that it wouldn't fit anywhere in the chapter and kind of disrupt the flow a bit. (We both died when we came up with it). Do note that he was instantly shut down.
> 
> The teams are as follows:  
> "Regalia Triad" - King, Queen, Trey  
> "Derp Squad" - Cater, Jack, Eight  
> "Team Fuq It" - Nine, Sice, Seven  
> "Team Cinnamoogle" - Cinque, Ace, Deuce  
> And the "Leftovers" (as the rest of the class silently dubbed them, as they can be put into whatever team or left alone) - Rem and Machina
> 
> One more shameless plug! PLEASE do check out my bestie's Jack RP blog!  
> http://grubsharelove.tumblr.com/


End file.
